Anonymous Snatches US Census Bureau Employee Data

In apparent response to controversial trade agreements being negotiated by the Obama Administration, Anonymous has moderately doxxed some 4,200 US Census Bureau employees nationwide. Much of the data was innocuous or otherwise publicly available, in that it most likely could not be used to blackmail or steal the identities of the employees who were exposed.

The US Census Bureau is investigating an IT security incident relating to unauthorized access to non-confidential information on an external system that is not part of the Census Bureau internal network. Access to the external system has been restricted while our IT forensics team investigates.

Security and data stewardship are integral to the Census Bureau mission. We will remain vigilant in continuing to take every necessary precaution to protect all information.

Hacktivism: Hacking with a Cause

Anonymous seeks to bring light to the trade agreements presently being negotiated by the United States and others in less-than-transparent manner, such that documents relating to the trade agreements have been leaked.

The trade agreements are controversial in part because of the way they are being negotiated, but also because of their implications on the rights of citizens in member countries. Several members of Obama’s party have yet to throw their weight behind the Trans-Pacific Partnership while at the same time the Senate recently passed the Trade Promotion Authority, which essentially amounts to enabling the executive branch to negotiate independent of the people. The TTIP (the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) will perform many of the same functions with Europe as the TPP does with Asia.

So where does Anonymous come into all of this? As far as has been leaked, much of this legislation has to do with limiting Internet freedoms, draconian measures to protect intellectual property (DRM), and more. The contents of the agreements has been kept secret for ten years now, and it is important to note that the negotiations were begun long before Barack Obama ran for president.

For many Americans, the passage of the last big trade deal, the North American Free Trade Agreement, spelled the end of their employment due to the way the agreement prohibits penalties for job exportation. At the time, the narrative of the executive branch was that American companies would be able to compete and would thrive as a result, but for the everyday person things have been since the beginning of the century.

Anonymous continues to remain relevant in a political and technological sense, taking risks where many will not even ask questions. Tactically speaking, by hacking the US Census Office and telling the world it was in response to the trade agreements, Anonymous is bringing attention to the agreements because they are aware that the media likes to sensationalize anything they do.

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5 stars on average, based on 2 rated postsP. H. Madore has covered the cryptocurrency beat over the course of hundreds of articles for Hacked's sister site, CryptoCoinsNews, as well as some of her competitors. He is a major contributing developer to the Woodcoin project, and has made technical contributions on a number of other cryptocurrency projects. In spare time, he recently began a more personalized, weekly newsletter at http://ico.phm.link

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Anonymous Inspired Comic ‘Hacktivist’ is Being Adapted for TV

Hacktivist, a graphic novel inspired by global hacking activist collective Anonymous and created by actress Alyssa Milano will be adapted for the small screen at a time when another Anonymous-inspired TV show Mr.Robot, is garnering rave reviews.

Alyssa Milano, an actress who has appeared in feature films and network TV shows is known for taking definitive stances politically, will see her 2014 graphic novel ‘Hacktivist’ adapted as a television series.

According to Deadline, The CW network will be developing an adaptation of the graphic novel Hacktivist, created by Alyssa Milano. The concept for the cyber-thriller graphic novel was pitched by Milano to comic publisher Boom! Studios, only coming after Marvel and DC in controlling the largest library of comic book IPs.

Hacktivist features two lead characters who run a successful social media company. The fictional characters are also hackers by night, inspired by popular hacktivist group Anonymous. Also, the protagonist in the comic was modeled after Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, while the fictional company based on the real-life social media giant.

Speaking to the Daily Dot in an earlier interview, Milano revealed how the idea came about.

I became obsessed with the role of the media, and how it was being used as a tool for protest.

At the same time, Anonymous was using hacking skills to empower people. And I thought, ‘What if Anonymous wasn’t a group but one person?’ And that spiraled into, ‘What if Anonymous was one guy? What characteristics would he have?’ He’d have to be socially aware, a coder, have access, be compassionate.”

Hacking activists in various parts of the world tend to unify under the banner of ‘Anonymous’, a faceless, leaderless, decentralized group of anyone and everyone who takes up its name.

Some of Anonymous’ most prominent movements occurred on November 5, 2013. Millions of demonstrators in over 400 cities around the world jointly participated in the Million Mask March on the day that that remembered the Guy Fawkes Night. The Guy Fawkes mask is commonly seen as the symbol of Anonymous, with members of the group readily distinguishable in public by wearing the masks.

Anonymous has undeniably made its mark in the mainstream consciousness. Wildly popular and critically-acclaimed TV shows like Mr. Robot see its fundamental premise in hacker activism and the new TV adaption of ‘Hacktivist’ – directly influenced by Anonymous – will only further perpetuate the loosely-associated international hacktivist network.

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In 2014, Anonymous hacker Martin Gottesfeld was allegedly involved in the hacking of Boston Children’s Hospital following the suspected mistreatment of one of its patients. Now, the alleged hacker has begun his second week of a hunger strike in prison to protest the assumed prosecution of the late Internet activist Aaron Swartz and the controversial child-custody case involving Justina Pelletier, reports Newsweek.

Two and a half years ago, the hacker collective Anonymous released a video calling for attacks against the hospital. It was alleged that 15-year-old Justina Pelletier was being held against her will by the State of Massachusetts where she was ‘tortured physically and mentally.’

In a letter, Gottesfeld wrote that what happened to Justina Pelletier goes far beyond a medical or custody dispute, and beyond child abuse.

Tragically, tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of children have suffered horrific abuse at fraudulent places who have no legitimate right to call themselves ‘residential treatment programs.’

Two Demands Need to be Met

In order for his hunger strike to come to an end, Gottesfeld is asking for two demands to be met.

He wants the U.S. presidential candidates to make a promise ensuring that children are no longer mistreated, tortured, abused or killed, and he wants to end the style of prosecution that U.S. attorney for Massachusetts, Carmen Ortiz waged against Aaron Swartz, Reddit co-founder. Swartz is reported to have committed suicide after he was accused of alleged computer crimes.

Speaking to Newsweek, Dana Gottesfeld, wife of Martin Gottesfeld said that he believes his conditions will be met.

She added:

If the candidates make the pledge but don’t make good on it, he plans to strike again.

He faces up to five years in prison and a $380,000 fine.

For now, it remains to be seen if the presidential candidates will consider his demands. Given Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s previous thoughts on what he thinks should be done to Edward Snowden if he became president, you have to wonder what kind of reception Martin Gottesfeld will receive from him.

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In a recent blog post, Anonymous India exposes how Reliance Jio has been sharing customers’ call data with foreign companies. Anonymous India also provide steps to see how Reliance Jio are sharing the data.

It said:

A year ago we had posted about how Reliance Jio was sharing user location data with China. One year on and nothing has changed.

In the blog post, Anonymous India claims that data from Reliance Jio’s My Jio and Jio Dialer apps are being sent to an advertiser called Mad.Me. It further adds that Reliance Jio is utilizing a third-party software development kit and is failing to verify what data is being sent and collected through it.

Reliance Jio Accused a Second Time

This, however, isn’t the first time that Anonymous India has accused Reliance Jio.

Last year the hacker activist group highlighted in another blog post that Reliance Jio had security flaws in its RJio chat app.

According to the 2015 post, data was being sent to a Chinese IP without encrypting it beforehand. This meant that while data was being leaked to the Chinese, anyone who wanted to could easily look into a conversation and know what was being shared or discussed, making it vulnerable to hackers.

Anonymous Never Forgets

When it comes to bringing the wrongs of others to light, the hacker activist group, Anonymous, are not afraid of standing up to the challenge.

At the beginning of the year, Anonymous targeted Thai police after protesting the conviction of two Burmese men who faced a death sentence in connection to two murdered British backpackers.

In May, Hacked reported that Anonymous had played a significant role in the target of financial institutions such as Greece’s central bank, which was targeted in a DDoS attack. According to the report, Anonymous consider central banks around the world as a ‘global banking cartel.’

In a bid to target those that it believes should be targeted, bringing greater awareness to the public, it seems that the hacktivist collective Anonymous won’t be stopping anytime soon.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

Important: Never invest (trade with) money you can't afford to comfortably lose. Always do your own research and due diligence before placing a trade. Read our Terms & Conditions here. Trade recommendations and analysis are written by our analysts which might have different opinions. Read my 6 Golden Steps to Financial Freedom here. Best regards, Jonas Borchgrevink.

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